Marked For Death: A Dark Urban Fantasy Novel by Becca Blake (english novels to improve english .txt) 📕

“You just lit the town hall on fire.” Orion waved his hand toward the burning building, as though I’d forgotten about it. “The Council won’t let you walk away from this.”

“The cameras won’t survive that fire. They won’t be able to prove we were here.”

“Do you think that will stop Marcus Thorne?”

Jacob shrugged. We both knew Orion was right. Marcus didn’t care about making sure he had evidence. If he wanted us to be guilty, we would be guilty. Still, I hoped he would at least give his son—and by extension, me—more of a chance than he’d given Orion.

It was another gamble, but we were due for a win.

“If we leave this enchantment behind, everything we’ve risked will have been for nothing.” Before he could start arguing again, I pulled a small envelope out of my pocket and held it out for him.

“What’s this?”

“A car key from Celia,” Jacob said.

“And a phone number for someone who can help.” I pressed the envelope into his palm until he took it from me. “Ayla is alive and hiding out in Omaha. We’ll meet you there tomorrow night.”

Orion looked as though he might continue arguing, but he sighed in defeat. He stepped forward and pulled me into an embrace, kissing my forehead. “Be careful, Riley.”

“You, too.”

“Check over this way,” someone yelled as a group moved in our direction.

Without another word, we parted ways. As we fled to opposite ends of Haygrove, I sent out a silent plea that none of the hunters looking for Orion would succeed.

***

When we finally reached my kitchen window, I pulled myself in first, with Jacob following behind me. Just as his feet landed on my kitchen floor, a heavy pounding came from out front.

I bit out a sharp curse. We’d been planning on changing into pajamas as soon as we got home to make it look as though we’d never left the house, but we were out of time. The fire was a great distraction, but between that and the alarm that went off, we’d lost our chance to return home before anyone noticed anything was wrong.

Hell, we were lucky they were only just now knocking on my door.

I gestured for Jacob to follow me up the stairs. As soon as I got to my room, I stripped out of my gear and kicked everything under the bed. Jacob averted his gaze and raised a hand to shield his eyes.

I appreciated the effort, but my work partner seeing me in my bra was the least of my worries.

“Open up!” The pounding on my front door continued.

“Take your shirt off,” I snapped.

“What?”

A crashing noise came from downstairs, and footsteps flooded my entryway.

“Just do it,” I said, hoping the urgency in my voice would get through to him.

Jacob pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it aside as I climbed into bed.

I patted the space next to me. “Hurry up.”

He hesitated, but as the guards’ footsteps started up my stairs, he joined me in my bed. The twin-sized mattress wasn’t built for two, and for the second time that night, our bodies pressed together. Maybe it was because of the chill on my skin from our evening outside, but his body was warm and pleasant against mine. The moonlight coming in through my window highlighted the hard lines of his chest and the scar on his shoulder. I resisted the urge to run my hands over his skin.

I had no time to linger on those thoughts, as the guards rushed down my hallway and stopped outside my room.

I pulled the covers up above my chest and let out a feigned gasp.

As soon as he got a look at us, the guard in front turned a shameful shade of scarlet. “Ah—”

“What the hell is going on?” I asked. “Why are you in my house?”

The guard turned his back to us and pulled out his phone. “Everything is clear here at the Collins residence. They’re, uh…” He rubbed his free hand on the back of his neck. “In bed.”

I couldn’t make out any of the words, but the muffled tone of Marcus’s voice was clear enough: he was furious. It was all I could do not to break out into a grin, despite all the stress of the night.

“Both of you get dressed,” our guard said as he slid his phone back into his pocket. He stepped out into the hall and waited beside my doorway to give us privacy, though he’d clearly been instructed not to leave us alone.

I waited until Jacob turned away before grabbing a plain white t-shirt and a pair of fluffy pajama bottoms with pink kittens on them. I hadn’t worn them in years, but they seemed like they’d be a good touch if I wanted to sell that I’d been doing nothing but lounging around the house all evening.

When I turned back around, Jacob had pulled on his black t-shirt and pants.

“You done in there?” the guard called over his shoulder.

“Yeah.” I stepped out into the hallway. “What’s going on? I heard loud noises coming from town. Is everything okay?”

The guard’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t offer an answer to my question. Instead, he gestured for us to follow him downstairs, past the splintered wood of my front door. He didn’t leave our side until Marcus Thorne showed up in my entryway.

For a long stretch, he said nothing. He stood there in silence, searching for any signs of something amiss. He glanced only briefly at his son with a disdainful expression before addressing us both.

“Commander Orion appears to have escaped from his cell.”

“How?” I asked, hoping the surprise in my voice was convincing enough.

“Powerful dark magic.” Marcus strode into my living room, evaluating everything. He ran his fingertips over the curtains and pulled them aside. “We haven’t seen anything like it in Haygrove for a very long time.”

“Orion used dark magic? Are you sure?” I asked.

“The town hall is burning to the ground as we speak. We’re doing our best to recover the security tapes